New York|In Westchester County, Teaching Artists Aid Students in Common Core Push

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In Westchester County, Teaching Artists Aid Students in Common Core Push

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Galit Sperling, a “teaching artist,” working with second graders at George M. Davis Elementary School in New Rochelle.CreditCreditÁngelFranco/The New York Times

By Tammy La Gorce

April 4, 2015

The 23 second graders in Betty Borkon’s class at George M. Davis Elementary School in New Rochelle didn’t know it, but a classroom activity in which they were pantomiming what it would be like to be desert ninjas, walking trees and stuck-to-the-ground starfish was not just playtime.

While the roomful of 7- and 8-year-olds flopped, flailed and chopped the air with make-believe bravura, Ms. Borkon was somewhat furtively taking a step forward in her march toward helping them meet the English Language Arts requirements under the set of academic standards known as the Common Core.

“This morning the kids saw that they don’t have to always talk, that they can use cues to express themselves effectively,” Ms. Borkon said. Because the ninjas, trees and starfish were also expected to tell nonverbal stories, though, the students were beginning to grasp how characters respond to major events and challenges. That understanding is one of the things the Common Core requires school districts to instill in second graders to establish literacy proficiency.

The class’s foray into theatrics had come courtesy of a new initiative by Purchase College’s Arts in Education program that might be considered a sort of pregame warm-up for elementary and middle school students before they take field trips to the college’s Performing Arts Center.

A decade ago, teachers would take students to the theater purely to expose them to the arts, offering something of a vacation day from traditional instruction. Then the landscape shifted: More emphasis was placed on improving test scores in language and math studies, and teachers became reluctant to spend time on the performing arts.

“We were hearing that if a program is not tied to a study guide for Common Core requirements, teachers don’t have time to integrate it,” said Seth Soloway, programming manager for Arts in Education.

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Justin Cohen, 8, who called the presentation “fun.”CreditÁngelFranco/The New York Times

So Mr. Soloway and his colleagues at Purchase adopted a novel approach: They incorporated lessons that reflected Common Core goals, such as one for sixth graders that asks them to compare the experience of reading a story with either taking in an audio, visual or live version of it. Learning periods conducted before actual trips to the theater can be a part of such lessons.

“We wanted to help teachers slide right into what they need to cover for Common Core, so going to the theater is not time they need to make up in the classroom,” Mr. Soloway said.

The program, which is called the School Time Series Teaching Artist Program and is paid for with a $15,000 grant from the nonprofit organization Arts Westchester, began this year. Six Westchester elementary and middle schools will participate before the school year ends.

By the 2016-17 school year, Mr. Soloway and Ian Driver, education manager for Arts in Education, hope to extend their reach to at least 15 schools within an hour’s bus ride of Purchase.

While her second graders were role-playing, Ms. Borkon stepped aside to let them take their cues from Galit Sperling, one of five “teaching artists” who specialize in visual arts, theater, dance, puppetry, music or, in some cases, several disciplines combined.

Ms. Sperling, who lives in Manhattan, helped the boys and girls understand what they could expect that day when they attended “The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon,” a live version of the classic Crockett Johnson story, and what they were supposed to get out of the experience.

After Ms. Sperling’s presentation, Justin Cohen, an 8-year-old, said: “This morning was fun because we did acting without our mouths. I learned that that’s part of art, and theater is part of art.”

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Carolyn LeConte, wearing a mask.CreditÁngelFranco/The New York Times

“The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon” is one of seven shows for which Purchase is offering preshow instruction this year. Shows geared toward older students include “Romeo and Juliet” and “Freedom Bound,” about the Underground Railroad.

For older students, other Common Core expectations come into play. For instance, the literacy requirements for ninth graders call for them to analyze a key scene in two artistic mediums, such as a play and a book. Seventh graders must compare a fictional portrayal of a time, place or character with a historical account.

In her well-disguised Common Core lesson for Ms. Borkon’s class about recognizing how characters respond to challenges, Ms. Sperling tapped into a natural resource: the children’s lively imaginations.

“Freeze in your character, and think about what could happen,” she said to a boy who had transformed himself into a jungle animal in danger of losing a treasure. “You stepped into this world by drawing yourself into it. Now, how can you step out of it?” she asked. His answer: scramble up an imaginary tree.

Carol Kelly, the facilitator for George M. Davis Elementary’s magnet overlay program in the performing arts, worked with Mr. Soloway and Mr. Driver to bring the program to the school. She described Ms. Sperling’s session with the second graders as a godsend.

“I couldn’t wait to be a part of this program when I heard about it,” Ms. Kelly said. “A lot of these children have never had the opportunity to see live theater, and this is experiential learning, through actual interaction. Right now, there’s nothing more important.”

Eight-year-old Justin already had some experience with theater. He had been to Purchase for a show when he was in kindergarten. “I didn’t really understand what we were doing,” he said.

Now, as a second grader with the benefit of a preshow visit, he felt better equipped to make sense of what he was going to see on his field trip, explaining, “I think this time is going to be funner.”

For information on Purchase College’s School Time Series Teaching Artist Program: 914-251-6232 or artscenter.org.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section WE, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Hidden in the Fun, Work on the Toughest Exams. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe